This season’s most controversial contestant talks to WHO about her adoring fans, the rose ceremony that never was … and that kangaroo suit.
When we spoke ahead of the season premiere, you talked about potential bad press and backlash from fans. Which certainly happened. All these weeks later, where is your head at?
To be honest, it’s all been so positive. When I initially had to leave the house, I was so worried. But it’s been amazing. I get people coming up to me, running towards me, telling me they love me and want a photo. Which is a little bit overwhelming. But at the same time, it’s so different to what you’re seeing online – and when I say online, I’m talking about The Bachelor Facebook page, where people are so quick to write a comment without actually thinking about it. A lot of them are, like, 12 year olds or they’ve got a picture of a cat as their profile. People that don’t really, you know… they’re either upset or they’re angry at themselves, or they’re 12 years old. They don’t mean it. It’s not personal, towards me, anyway. And I don’t know if you can see it but I get a lot of love on my Instagram. I’m getting inundated with amazing, beautiful messages from people. It’s been pretty positive.
Do you think it’s because you kind of punctured the bubble and kept things real?
Yeah, definitely. I feel like I’m definitely setting standards for what’s to come on TV. [Laughs] Not everyone, of course, but a lot of people are saying, “You know, you kept it real. You have inspired me to keep it real.” And I’ve gotten messages from people saying they stopped talking to girls who have treated them poorly, or inspired them to be more confident. People telling me that I’m an inspiration? I actually got a bit emotional last night reading a long message from someone. I’m happy that people are being inspired, which I didn’t think would happen. But it’s nice.
Well, some people who started off disliking you came around pretty quickly once they saw the entertainment value in your actions and comments.
Yes! A lot of people have said that to me. It’s weird. Have you seen the BuzzFeed article about me? It’s about Keira’s best moments on The Bachelor. It’s the best thing ever.
Yes, I know the writer of that story. You’re something of a gay icon now.
I know I am. All the gays love me and I love them back. Hello… maybe I should be doing appearances at gay clubs.
What did you mean when you said you were “too good for this situation” on the show last night?
Look, I am too good for that situation. I don’t need to put myself in a situation where I’m fighting for one guy with all of these girls who are on a completely different level to me! Not that I’m better than them, but we’re just different. You’ve got one guy with 22 girls, all completely different. A lot of them are younger.
So why did you do it in the first place?
I guess I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into when I first walked in. There just ended up being things that I wasn’t that happy with. A lot of the group dates were really … you know, I found myself in situations that I didn’t really want to be in, and I felt I was too good for them. Like, getting into a kangaroo suit and fighting with other girls for a guy that I hardly know? Mmm… I’m too good for that. And that’s what I really struggled with.
Would you say you did, at any point, have any feelings for Richie?
He’s such a nice guy and he’s so genuine. Those are qualities I look for in a guy. I found him quite funny. We had good laughs together. But we were mates, and sometimes you do have to be friends with someone before you can build a relationship. It just got to the point where, obviously… you saw we were just mates. And that’s fine, you know?
Do you think the two of you were just too different in the end?
One hundred per cent! I would eat him alive. We’re totally different people. I’m more dominant than him, and that’s not good or healthy in a relationship.
I want to ask about a comment you made to Richie in a previous episode…
About the smell?
Yeah.
Okay, so just so you know, everyone’s been asking me, so I don’t know if this is going to get you any original content. So if you want to ask something else, I’d probably suggest that. Just to help you out a bit!
Well, there were reports that a lot of the girls found Richie really dull? Did you?
Ahhh… look. I kind of… Richie has a very similar personality to me and when I say that I mean that he jokes around a lot. I didn’t find him boring. I just found that he didn’t stimulate my mind the way that I need a man to.
Now that you’re out of the house, and I know you had a slight go at some of the girls in the car last night…
[Laughs]
Can you open up a bit more about which of the girls really angered or frustrated?
It was pretty obvious who they were. We could all see, very clearly, what was going on. But at the same time, we all talk now. We’re friends. We get along really well. We laugh at everything that happened as we’re watching it back. It was awhile ago that it happened, and you end up forgetting why people angered you or you just get over it. I feel like we need to give you better content to make this a little more original. I’ve been asked these questions all day.
That’s going to be hard. You’ve been doing interviews all morning!
Ask me something about… I don’t know. Ask me about the yoga or something.
Well, you were shown saying a lot of very blunt things. Were other girls doing those things and not being shown or getting an easier pass from the show?
Look, everyone had a character. The producers knew what they were doing. It doesn’t matter who you are. Everybody said things like the things that I said. I just said them funnier. So they were like, okay, she’s the funniest and the best at it, so let’s just run with her as that character. Which is fine. When you go on these kinds of TV shows, you do make yourself vulnerable and open yourself up to a situation that you’re potentially not going to like when you see it played back. But if you can’t hack it, why are doing it? I really don’t care if people don’t like me.
Are you happier that you left this way as opposed to being rejected at a rose ceremony?
Yeah, of course I was. Could you imagine me being rejected at a rose ceremony, babe? It would be a shit fight. There would be roses everywhere! It would not be good.
Well, given you were clearly the breakout of this season, will you do more television?
Thank you. I haven’t been offered anything yet… I’ve been asked this, and I definitely feel like I must have something to offer if that’s what keeps coming up. I’m me, I don’t see that… I guess I will just take each day as it comes and if an opportunity comes, I’ll consider it. I’d probably do The Bachelorette. And I definitely would do reality TV again. They want a personality and I have one, right? And if I were to do something else, you’d probably see another side to me. Which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.
Could you hack it on Survivor?
You know what? I reckon I could. And I’d get skinny! And I’m very resilient. I could make that work.
What about the faces you pulled on the show? It doesn’t seem like you’re able to hide how you’re feeling even if you wanted to try. Did people tell you that in your personal life, even before you went on the show?
Yeah, 100 per cent. Obviously, I’ve seen myself on TV and thought, oh my God. So many times, they got my bad angles. And I’m like, I told the cameraman: this is my good side! Make sure you focus on my good side! How many times did I tell him, and he still got the other side? Wasn’t happy about it. So look, there’s no picture you can post or meme you can make where I’m pulling a face that I haven’t already seen. I’m my biggest critic. So everything that has happened and everything I have seen has only made me more secure with myself. Which is scary, because we all know how confident I already am.
Let’s close by talking about yoga, as you suggested. I love doing yoga.
Well, then you would have loved that date with me. Richie hated it from the time he got there. Even when we were doing the roller derby date, I mentioned to him that I do yoga and he said, “Ew, I hate yoga.” Hated it! So why did he take me on a date to do yoga when he said he hated it? Like, where is my helicopter?
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